Myths Surrounding the Artists Color Wheel Chart

The True Primary Colors, not any Red, Yellow or Blue

Mar 24, 2009

The definition of a primary color, one might think would be red, yellow or blue. However, this is not quite correct and may result in unsatisfactory color mixing.

Textbooks on the color theory abound with images of a color mixing chart exhibiting red, yellow and blue. This would imply that the mixture of any two color combinations would result in a vibrant secondary color (green, purple or orange). In many cases, however, a given red, yellow or blue contains impurities, and are not a true primary color.

Oil Color Pigments

The impurities become evident when trying to mix two apparent primary colors. Cadmium red, for instance, is a widely used pigment that exists in any artists’ paint collection. Ultramarine blue is another such pigment. Both would appear vibrant when applied neat. Mix the two together, however, and a vibrant purple will not result, as one would expect, but a muddy color. This is because Cadmium red contains quite a lot of yellow, and ultramarine blue is bias towards red.

The True Primary Colors

These are magenta, cyan and yellow. However, no pigment found in nature will ever be as pure as the colors found in scattered light, because impurities will exist, no matter how small. The best that can be achieved is a close approximation to a pure primary color.

Fundamental Colors

Magenta, cyan and yellow are labelled as such in terms of printing ink. In terms of painting mediums, however, it is not so straightforward. Some tubes claim to be magenta, but is not actually the primary magenta. It is advisable to examine the manufacturer’s color chart to determine which are the true primaries, as these may be labelled differently. In terms of oil paint, cadmium yellow (pale) Pthalo blue and permanent rose are close to the mark.

Red is Not a Primary Color

Magenta, then, is a primary color, but it has a rather rosy appearance rather than red. If magenta were mixed with yellow, though, it would become red. Red, therefore is actually a secondary color. It follows then, that orange is not a secondary color at all, but a tertiary color, because red requires yellow to achieve it.

Color Spectrum and Paint Mixing

Primary Color: This is a fundamental color that cannot be made from the mixture of other colors. No pigment is as pure as the colours of scattered light, but a close approximation can be achieved. The true primaries are magenta, cyan and yellow.

Secondary Color: This is produced from the mixture of two primary colors. These are violet, red and green.

Tertiary Color: This is produced by the mixture of a primary color and a secondary color. For example, mixing red with yellow will produce orange; mixing green with yellow will produce a yellowy-green.

Interesting greys and browns can be achieved by mixing all three primaries in varying quantities. Black is produced by mixing all three primary colors in similar quantities.

The true primary colors are magenta, cyan and yellow, not any red, yellow and blue. Oil painting pigments can never be as pure as the color of scattered light, but paint manufacturers can achieve a close approximation. Including the true primary colors within the palette of any painting medium will result in clean mixes, vibrant colors and good color harmony. This will avoid the disappointment of muddy colors, unless, of course, this is intentional.

The copyright of the article Myths Surrounding the Artists Color Wheel Chart in Illustration is owned by Rachel Wills. Permission to republish Myths Surrounding the Artists Color Wheel Chart in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.